


At Last I See The Light

by buoyantsaturn



Series: birthday week [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18364433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: He would suffer through being nothing more than Will’s best friend if it meant sharing an apartment and having Friday movie nights after Nico’s evening classes.





	At Last I See The Light

**Author's Note:**

> hey so,, sometimes u just gotta use real life as an inspiration u know?? so here's something i whipped up in 24 hours i hope you like it!!  
> OBVIOUSLY the title is from tangled

Nico was in love with his roommate. He had been for a while, and he’d gotten used to the feeling of his heart rate spiking whenever Will smiled at him or sat too close to him on the couch or flopped down into Nico’s bed next to him and talked to him until three in the morning before they both passed out and Nico had to wake up the next morning to find Will drooling into his pillow.

It hurt - a _lot,_ and all the time, but he was used to it. He would suffer through being nothing more than Will’s best friend if it meant sharing an apartment and having Friday movie nights after Nico’s evening classes.

They were watching _Tangled_ \- _again,_ seriously, they watched it almost every week and Nico was starting to consider setting a once-a-month rule for that movie specifically - and without taking his eyes off the screen, Will said, “I was talking to this one girl in my stats class yesterday, and she said she’d _never_ seen this before. Like, how is that even possible? _Tangled_ is a _treasure.”_

Nico rolled his eyes, shoving another handful of popcorn into his mouth instead of replying.

“So she asked if she could come over sometime to watch it,” Will continued. “I don’t know when yet, or even if it’s ever gonna happen, but is that cool?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Nico told him, even though _no,_ it _wasn’t_ cool. Nico _hated_ having people over, but he didn’t want to be an asshole and ruin Will’s date. Wait. Was it a _date?_ “Is it… a date?”

Will snorted incredibly unattractively, and Nico felt his heart skip a beat. “Oh, no way.”

“Cool,” Nico replied, but on the inside he was praising any god he could remember the name of, whether he believed they existed or not.

 

* * *

 

Nico got a text from Will on Thursday morning asking if they could postpone movie night that week so that Macy could come over, and Nico’s heart sank even as he typed out, _yeah, whatever._

For once, he was grateful for his and Will’s wildly differing schedules so that he didn’t have to try to mask his emotions when they saw each other, given that Nico only ever saw Will on Thursdays if one of their classes had been canceled.  

That didn’t mean he felt any better when he _did_ see Will on Friday, though. He walked into their apartment to hear the TV playing the now very familiar music of _Tangled,_ and tried to shut the door quietly so that he wouldn’t be noticed.

Too bad Will had ears like a… What animal had good hearing?

As soon as Nico was in Will’s line of sight, Will called out to him. “Hey, Nico! Come over here, I want you to meet Lacy.”

 _Lacy?_ Nico thought with a frown, and the girl turned to look at him. She was pretty, Nico supposed, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and if her and Will ever got together they would probably make beautiful, blonde, _heartbreaking_ babies.

“He told you my name was Macy, didn’t he?” she asked, and smiled up at Will. “Five weeks of sitting next to each other and the whole time he didn’t know my name. He had _the most_ adorable look on his face when he found out it’s actually _Lacy.”_

Nico glanced up at Will, who was now blushing and bright red, and thought, _yeah, he’s pretty adorable._ Nico shuffled awkwardly and said, “Well, uh, nice to meet you. I’m just gonna grab some food, and then I’ll get out of your way.”

As Nico stepped back into the kitchen to take a few snacks out of the cabinet, he didn’t notice Will’s eyes following him with a worried frown, until Lacy pulled their attention back to the movie with a, “Wait, what just happened?”

The last thing Nico heard before retreating to his room was Will’s voice exclaiming, “Oh! This is my favorite part!” just like he always did as Rapunzel and Flynn started singing _At Last I See the Light._

Nico flopped down on his bed with his laptop and a pair of headphones, figuring he’d have his own movie night with a movie _he_ actually wanted to watch for once. Though as he scrolled through Netflix, his eyes kept catching on _Tangled_ no matter how many times he tried to find something else.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked it while he waited for the movie to load. He had a text from Will that said, _Are you okay?_

 _im good,_ he texted back. _i have a lot of homework. enjoy your date._

Nico watched as the typing bubble appeared and disappeared a couple of times before stopping completely. He figured Will would try to argue that it wasn’t a date, but Nico saw the way Lacy was acting. Just because Will didn’t think it was a date didn’t mean that Lacy thought the same.

By the time Nico had reached Will’s favorite part of the movie, he noticed his door opening, and quickly made room beside him before Will could flop down on top of his stuff. Once Will was laying down - face-down in Nico’s pillow, he might add - Nico set all his stuff aside and laid down beside him.

“So, uh,” Will started, turning his head to face Nico. “It was a date.”

Nico rolled his eyes with a smile. “Yeah, I know. So are you going out again?”

“Yeah, she asked if she could come over again next Friday. Is that okay? I don’t really want to miss out on another movie night, but maybe you and I could find another night to do it?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Wanna watch something tomorrow to make it up to me?”

“Of course I do,” Will told him.

“So… Did she like the movie?”

Will’s eyes lit up as he started to describe Lacy’s reaction to the movie, and Nico wished Will would smile like that when he was talking about _him._

 

 

* * *

 

Will was cooking when Nico came back from class the next Friday, which was _very_ unusual. Will _hated_ cooking, and barely even helped Nico because he was always convinced that he would burn the place down if he got too close to the stove.

“Hey, Neeks!” Will called. “Come tell me if I’m cooking this right.”

“Aren’t there directions you can read?” Nico asked, though he stepped over to the stove anyway, and peered into the pan. “What is that?”

“Potstickers,” Will answered. “And I have spring rolls in the oven, too. I forget, do you like spring rolls or egg rolls better? Anyway, I just bought them earlier and I figured we could try them for date night.”

 _Date night?_ Nico thought with a frown, and then remembered: _Lacy._ She was why Will was cooking, _of course._ “Well, uh, I’m sure Lacy will like this.”

Will pouted down at him. “You’re going to have some, too, right? I’m sure I’ve made enough for three. Besides, I was practically dating you before I was with Lacy, anyway.”

“You-- I, uh...what--”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Will forced the spatula he was holding into Nico’s hands before he ran toward the door.

Nico watched the potstickers, checking the instructions on the pack Will had bought and plating them once he deemed them finished. He turned to set the plate on the counter and caught Will and Lacy exchanging a kiss. In that second, Nico wished he could disappear - or make Lacy disappear, but he figured that was less likely to happen.

A timer sounded from Will’s phone, and he rushed toward the oven, stepping around Nico with a hand skimming across the small of his back on his way to grab an oven mitt, and pulled the spring rolls from the oven. Nico felt a shock travel up his spine at the touch.

“You two grab a seat, I’ll bring this over in a second,” Will told them, and Nico glanced toward Lacy to gauge whether she was okay with Nico joining them for dinner, but she had already moved toward the table.

Nico sat down, and just after he did so, Will reached over his shoulder to set a plate in front of him. He then did the same with Lacy, though he pressed a kiss to her cheek as he did so. Nico wasn’t all that hungry anymore.

He tried to eat fast just to get himself out of the awkward situation, though just as Nico had finished washing his plate, he saw Lacy pulling Will toward his bedroom. Nico hurried into his own room and tried to hide under his comforter.

 

In the morning, when he went out into the kitchen to make coffee, he saw Lacy leaving Will’s room wearing one of his t-shirts as she made her way to the bathroom.

Nico grabbed enough snacks from the cabinet that would keep him from having to leave his room for the rest of the day, and locked the door behind himself.

 

* * *

 

Nico’s class ended late the next Friday, meaning that he was out even later than usual. Not to mention that his professor had asked him to stay back to discuss his last paper - the best in the class, apparently, and was good enough to put him in the mix for a TA position next semester.

He went out for a celebratory cheeseburger on his way home, bringing a milkshake back for Will, and practically ran into his apartment once had the door unlocked, calling out for Will as he did so. The place was dark and quiet, so Nico figured that Will had gone to bed considering the time, and went to open Will’s door when the doorknob moved out from under Nico’s hand when he reached for it.

The door opened just a crack, and Will poked his head out - the room behind him was dark and Will seemed slightly out of breath for some reason, and Nico noticed that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, though he refused to let his eyes drift any lower. Will smiled at him. “Hey. Did you need me? We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

“Oh, uh…” Nico’s mind went blank, and his eyes flickered down to the milkshake in his head. He held it out to Will. “I got this for you.”

“Oh! Thanks, can you put it in the fridge for me?” Nico nodded and started to move away from the door, but Will said, “Is that all you wanted? You sounded pretty urgent, are you okay?”

“Yeah, no, I, uh. I’ve already forgotten,” Nico said awkwardly as he kept stepping backwards. “I’ll probably remember in the morning, so, uh. Goodnight.” He backed all the way into his room and closed the door, then stepped back out after a second when he remembered the milkshake in his hand. “I forgot the milkshake,” he said when he noticed Will still standing in his own doorway.

As Will finally retreated back into his room, Nico set the milkshake in the freezer, and heard Will and Lacy’s hushed voices from inside Will’s room.

How could Nico have forgotten about _date night?_

 

* * *

 

Nico hid away in his room again that weekend, blaming it on homework. It was easier to avoid Will during the week when they both had classes and Nico could hide in the library instead of going back to their apartment during his free time.

It wasn’t that he _wanted_ to avoid Will, but he didn’t think he could handle seeing him around Lacy, or hear him talk about Lacy, or know that he would rather _be with_ Lacy than with Nico. He didn’t want to have to confront that awkward milkshake situation, either - he didn’t want Will to think it was okay to _talk about_ whatever he and Lacy had been doing, and he didn’t want to try to explain away the way he’d reacted. It was easier to hide away.

Until the next Friday, when Nico’s professor had pulled him aside once more to officially offer him the TA position - which Nico gratefully accepted. Instead of staying out to celebrate, Nico hurried home in the hopes that he would make it there before Lacy did so that he could tell Will the good news.

When he got there, everything was quiet and dark, just like it had been last time, and Nico went straight for Will’s door. As his hand closed around the doorknob, he remembered what had happened last time, and knocked instead.

“Yeah?” Will called from inside the room, and Nico opened the door slowly, cautiously, until he saw Will laying alone in his bed, the room dark around him.

“Hey, uh. What’s up?” Nico asked as he lingered in the doorway.

Will sat up, his feet on the ground and his head in his hands. “Oh, you know…” he said with a shrug and a half smile, and Nico’s heart broke at the sight.

“Isn’t it date night?”

“Not anymore.”

Nico sat down beside him on the edge of the mattress and bumped his shoulder into Will’s. “What happened?”

“She broke up with me,” Will said, tilting his head to watch Nico, “because I’m in love with you.”

“I’m so sorry, Will, I--” Nico’s breath caught in his throat and he choked on his words. “Wait, _what?”_

“I love you, Nico,” Will said softly, twisting slightly until he could look at Nico head-on. “I’m in love with you. I don’t know for how long, but I didn’t realize until about a week ago. And then...I barely saw you after that. I’ve been missing you like crazy, and I know you might not be into me, but--”

“I am,” Nico cut in, and Will’s beautiful blue eyes widened. “I love you, too, Will.” He reached up, his fingers brushing against Will’s cheek, and leaned in until their noses bumped against each other. He dropped his other hand onto Will’s thigh to steady himself as Will pressed forward and they finally, _finally_ kissed.

It was...underwhelming, but perfect at the same time. It was everything Nico had ever wanted, and he knew that there was plenty of time for Will to overwhelm him with a single kiss.

Nico pulled himself back just enough that their lips still brushed as he spoke. “I’m gonna go make us some mac and cheese, and I want you to get comfy on the couch and start up a movie.”

“Which one?” Will asked.

“Whatever you want,” Nico replied, knowing exactly which movie Will would pick.

Nico cooked and the two of them ate, and soon enough Will had Nico wrapped up in his arms as they watched _Tangled._ As _At Last I See the Light_ started to play on the screen, Nico smiled up at Will and said, “It’s your favorite part.”

Will looked at him in surprise, and then surprised him right back by pressing him into the couch cushions and giving him the most overwhelming kiss he’d ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!


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